Mesopotamia had several versions of the story of a catastrophic flood, complete with a large boat that saves animals and humans.4 They include mention of a group of sages (the apkallus), possessors of great knowledge, in the period before the flood. These apkallus were divine beings. Many apkallus were considered evil; those apkallus are integral to Mesopotamian demonology. After the flood, offspring of the apkallus were said to be human in descent (i.e., having a human parent) and “two-thirds apkallu.”5 In other words, the apkallus mated with human women and produced quasi-divine offspring.
